1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electrical connectors and more particularly to female type connectors which are referred to as jacks in the telephony art.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the telephone connector art, a modular jack, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 (Krumreich et al), can be designed having any predetermined number of spring contact structures depending on the particular envisioned use. In some modular jack applications however, such as in a telephone handset, two electrical connections using spring contacts are usually needed though four such connections are occasionally required. Typically, in such applications, modular jacks containing four spring contact structures are then used. This is wasteful because the spare contact structures are seldom used and add to the cost of the jack.
One alternative is to leave the spare contact structures out of the jack until they are needed in the field to reduce cost of the jack. However, their installation in the field is not usually desirable because it is a delicate operation due to the small size of the contact structures and time-consuming as the contact structures must be inserted individually. Another alternative is to replace the installed jack with one having the needed number of spring contacts. This means disconnecting completely the existing connections, which is even more time-consuming.
Thus, there is need for a modular jack which can be manufactured at a reduced cost and yet allows quick and easy installation of spare spring contacts when needed.
Also, increasingly telephone handsets and other devices are being made with electronic components mass soldered onto printed circuit boards. The modular jack disclosed in Krumreich et al is designed with spring contact structures having spade-tipped insulated conductors which are secured with screws to connect with the electronics in the handset.
Desirably, a modular jack can be designed with spring contact structures which facilitate soldering onto the printed circuit board along with the other electronic components and reduce overall jack manufacturing cost at the same time.